


The bright taste of Youth

by the_mad_duchess



Category: Naruto
Genre: Fluff, Gen, This is supposed to be fluff, and orange, haha joke's on you there's some heartbreak too, way too much orange
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-27
Updated: 2017-11-27
Packaged: 2019-02-07 18:49:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 690
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12847308
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_mad_duchess/pseuds/the_mad_duchess
Summary: There's a package sitting on his doorstep. The paper is a deep forest green, sharply folded where it should be but otherwise doesn’t have a single wrinkle. Someone stuck an oversized bow on top in the most garish orange he’s ever seen.





	The bright taste of Youth

The bright taste of Youth One day, when it's yet another birthday unacknowledged, Naruto finds a perfectly wrapped package on his doorstep. The paper is a deep forest green, sharply folded where it should be but otherwise doesn’t have a single wrinkle. Someone stuck an oversized bow on top in the most garish orange he’s ever seen.

At first, he thinks somebody must have lost it while they were rooftop-hopping to whichever party they were invited to. He leaves it where it is and goes about his day as usual. When he comes back from the convenience store – running out of Ramen is Not Acceptable – it is still sitting there.

There is a faint rumble in the distance and the clouds spell rain. It seems the weather tries to match the depressed mood that lies across Konoha like a heavy, gray blanket. Even though he never gets them himself, Naruto has seen others treat presents preciously and with great care, so he nudges it under the awning in front of his door to prevent it from getting wet.

The paper rustles, and he notices a small card dangling on the side. When Naruto picks it up, it takes him a bit of time to realise the elaborate letters spell ‘Happy birthday Naruto! May you celebrate this youthful day in a most festive manner!’.

Stunned, Naruto stands there for a few seconds, looking at the package in his hands. The plastic bag with Ramen Cups dangles from his arm, and the packages paper crinkles in his hands. The bright orange bow sways a little in the wind.

As the first few raindrops begin to fall, Naruto startles out of his stupor. He stuffs the present – it must be a present. For him! Naruto has _never_ gotten a present before! – into his shopping bag, digs his keys out of his jacket and stumbles into his tiny apartment.

The thunder rolls and lightning paints strange shadows on his walls. While he proceeds to unpack the Ramen, the present sits on his dinner table. The bow glints even brighter than it already is whenever lightning hits, and the card is a bit soggy from the rain, the ink slightly blurred by water.

After he ate his celebratory cup of Ramen, he hesitantly touches the present. It’s soft and the paper crinkles when he picks it up. When he carefully opens it, the first thing he sees is – more orange. And fluff. White fluff.

He unwraps it the rest of the way and ends up holding a very, _very_ orange jacket in his hands. The collar is fluffy and white, and the fabric smells faintly like chemicals. Almost like the jacket is new.

In the orphanage, the clothes he got were hand-me-downs from older kids. While the clothes weren’t riddled with holes, the fabric was usually faded, thin and soft with use and more often ill-fitting than not. He has never had a new jacket before.

He carefully puts it on and even while it is slightly too big, it fits better than anything he currently owns. The fluff on the collar is soft and warm, and he rubs his cheek against it, grinning happily. Naruto can’t help jumping around a little in excitement. Someone got him a _present_. Someone got _him_ a present!

He starts wearing the jacket only occasionally in the beginning, but after he rips a hole in his old one, he just keeps wearing it all the time. The other students in the academy look at him funnily, but what do they know about awesome birthday presents? Nothing!

It’s the first birthday present he ever got, and it’s the _most awesome thing ever_.

If there’s a spandex-clad, bowl-cut wearing Jonin with impossibly white teeth occasionally blurring past his classroom window in a quest to ‘Finish 300 laps around the village!’ because of a lost match of Rock-Paper-Scissors against a certain Hatake Kakashi, he doesn’t notice.

And if Gai Maito is not allowed to speak to Naruto, well... Dropping off something orange once a year hardly counts as speaking. And if it always happens on the same day, it certainly is coincidence.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm way too impatient and easily distracted to actually write more than a couple of words of fic, so this is the first thing I have written and published in around 10 years.  
> It started out as a headcanon how Gai would make everything more awesome and introduce the Spirit of Youth TM (and spandex) to Konoha if he was Hokage, then it led me to thinking how both Rock Lee and Naruto wear orange and this piece happened.  
> Since I'm not a native speaker/writer of english, I hope this is still somewhat enjoyable. Concrit is always welcome! <3  
> Come hang out and say hi on my tumblr-island (the-mad-duchess.tumblr.com).


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